A heavily criticized joke with a tampon and bad putts: golf superstar Tiger Woods had to answer many uncomfortable questions after the second round of the PGA tournament in Pacific Palisades, California.
Above all, the prank with the tampon that the now 47-year-old had played on his friend and play partner Justin Thomas caused a lot of fuss and sharp criticism on social networks. “Really, Tiger? You’re a 47-year-old ‘girl dad’ still doing childish and sexist tampon pranks like an immature schoolboy?” tweeted USA Today columnist Christine Brennan.
Woods had handed Thomas the toiletries during the joint round at the Genesis Invitational. When the 29-year-old noticed what he was holding, he immediately dropped the tampon. Laughing, Woods put his arm around his friend.
Woods apologizes
“It was supposed to be just fun and games, but obviously it didn’t go down that way,” Woods apologized after the round. “If I offended anyone in any way, I’m sorry. It wasn’t intentional. It was just that we were always playing pranks on each other and I don’t think it came across that way.”
In terms of sport, things didn’t go well for the host in the second round of his own tournament. After a strong opening round of 69 on the par-71 course near Los Angeles, the longtime number one in the world of golf only played a round of 74 on the second day.
Woods was particularly annoyed by his poor performance on the greens: “I didn’t putt well today. I probably should have played five or six shots better.” At the end of the day, the second round of the $20 million tournament was abandoned due to darkness. At this point, Woods was one shot over the cut, but he eventually qualified for the next two rounds.
The Genesis Invitational start is Woods’ first appearance at a tournament since last summer. In February 2021, Woods broke his right leg several times in a serious car accident, and since then he has rarely competed